There is widespread agreement that cancer communication programs and materials will be more effective when they are "culturally appropriate" for the populations they serve. Yet surprisingly little is known about how best to achieve cultural appropriateness, what (if any) communication effects can be attributed to cultural appropriateness, and whether different approaches to cultural appropriateness will have different effects. We have identified three basic approaches currently used to achieve cultural appropriateness. Peripheral approaches seek to enhance effectiveness of cancer communication by packaging generic content in colors, fonts, images, pictures or declarative titles (e.g., "A guide for African Americans") likely to appeal to a given group. Evidential approaches provide and discuss data specific to that group (e.g., "Between 1973-1992, colorectal cancer in African American men increased 40 percent"). Sociocultural approaches discuss cancer in the context of specific social and/or cultural characteristics of the group (e.g., "Being there for family, friends, and community is an African American tradition."). No study has yet compared the effects of these approaches, and in particular the effects of combined approaches, as they are more commonly used. This study will do so using a 3-arm randomized controlled trial among 1,200 African American men and women. We will track for one year the progression of affective, cognitive, and behavioral effects described in McGuire's Communication/Persuasion Model that result from 3 exposures to colorectal cancer risk reduction magazines. Participants will be randomly assigned to receive either peripheral, peripheral+evidential, or peripheral+sociocultural materials. All groups will be followed-up at 4-, 28-, and 52-weeks post-enrollment. This study will provide the first evidence for which communication effects can be expected, from which cultural approaches, at which intervals in a 12-month time period. It will thus contribute to establishing a theory of cultural cancer communication, guidelines for cancer educators and practitioners, and meeting the Healthy People 2010 goal of eliminating health disparities.